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CANBERRA, Australia, June 25 (UPI) -- The Australian air force said it will fly six more new F/A-18F Super Hornets from the United States to Australia in early July.
The planes will be stationed at the Royal Australian Air Force base in Amberley in the northeast state of Queensland.
Minister for Defense John Faulkner said a detachment of RAAF aircrew and maintenance personnel from No. 1 Squadron is conducting work-ups with the aircraft at the Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif.
"The detachment is completing comprehensive flight testing which includes up to 96 hours of test and evaluation flying and two weeks of electronic warfare flight trials from Lemoore," Faulkner said in a written statement.
"Another key task involves working with an air-to-air tanker conducting day and night refueling flights to ensure we are ready for the flight to Australia."
The arrival of the six planes means almost half of Australia's 24 Super Hornets will be based at RAAF base Amberley, around 30 miles southwest of Brisbane and near the coast of Queensland.
The first five Super Hornets arrived in March at Amberley where pilots have been conducting familiarization training and flights.
By the end of 2011, all 24 Super Hornets will be in Amberley, Australia's most important base with the country's largest number of personnel, 3,500 military and civilians.
Amberley also is home to No. 6 Squadron that operates the General Dynamics F-111, the No. 33 Squadron that is awaiting delivery of the Airbus KC-30A and No. 36 Squadron with its Boeing C-17 Globemaster III transports.
Also, army units of the 9th Force Support Battalion are in Amberley, designated the country's "super-base." It is undergoing $55.5 million of redevelopment due for completion in 2015.
The airfield was a major U.S. Air Force base during World War II in 1942 and 1943. Amberley, along with Darwin International Airport, is an emergency landing site for the space shuttle.
The F/A-18Fs are a bridging capability before Australia takes delivery of the expected Joint Strike Fighter.
"The Super Hornet project has been a fine example of team work," said Faulkner.
"Reaching this stage of the project on time and on budget has been due to the great partnership between the Royal Australian Air Force, Defense Materiel Organization, United States Navy, the Boeing Company and their industry partners, General Electric, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon."
In a separate delivery, BAE Systems, together with partners Navistar Defense and ArvinMeritor, handed over three light-tactical vehicle prototypes to the Australian military.
The vehicles, although in right-hand drive, are configured to be highly compatible with the U.S. variants to enhance interoperability between the armies of both countries.
U.S. Army Joint Light Tactical Vehicle product manager Mark McCoy said Australia's participation in the JLTV program, signed in January 2009, will help reduce overall program risk through the testing and evaluation of additional prototype vehicles.
"The similarity of tactical vehicle solutions across allies will enhance global interoperability and reduce the maintenance and logistical burden," he said.
The prototypes will undergo durability, reliability and blast testing as well as tropical environment testing in Australia.
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